Chapter 9: Attending

  After all this commotion, the sun had already set in the west. The sky was still bright, but Johnny estimated that it must be around three or four o'clock in the afternoon. He returned to his home in Tabriz, where Smith was forging a custom-made weapon for a client. Hearing the noise, he looked up and saw that it was his own son, with bloodstains on his body.

  "You..."

  "It's nothing, Dad, just goblin blood." Johnny spoke up quickly, forestalling a series of questions from Old Smith.

  Smith nodded and looked at Johnny carefully for a moment, confirming that he was really okay, then lowered his head to continue the work in his hands.

  Joni walked into the backyard, took off his armor and sword, went to the water tank to cool off, washing away the bloodstains and sweat. Then he entered the house, took out a brush and carefully cleaned the expensive armor, also cleaning the fresh blood on the long sword. After that, he returned to his own room, changed into clean clothes, reached under the bed to take out the five skull fragments from yesterday, stuffed them into a cloth bag. Without wearing armor, carrying only his long sword, he rushed towards the Mercenary Alliance.

  As he walked into the Mercenary Alliance, he saw a beautiful figure. A tight-fitting leather armor, a ponytail behind her head... Joanie walked to the task reception counter and turned his head to take a glance at the girl's face.

  "Astrid?"

  The girl heard the sound and turned her head, looking up and down at Johnny for a while, then carefully looked at his face.

  "Are you... Joanie?"

  "Really? What a coincidence! You're here to hand in your assignment too?"

  After all, they had fought together and saved each other's lives, so Ais Wallenstein didn't become especially cold. She nodded: "Yes, the task of finding Mr. Edward."

  "Found it?"

  "They found the body, which seemed to have been bitten to death by a wolf or something, but what's strange is that the body was still intact and there were still some belongings left behind." He said, pointing at the pendant in the clerk's hand, "That one."

  The body and the things are all here? This is a bit strange, beasts can't just bite people without eating them, goblins can't let go of the deceased's belongings, as for others... in short, it's impossible that there would still be remains.

  But Johnny didn't take it to heart, and he didn't know Edward anyway.

  "And you?" Astrid asked.

  "I've come for the Goblin Slaying quest." Joni said, taking out a burlap sack and dumping out a pile of skulls.

  "Oh, it's that quest for the nine skullcaps again. That should still be pretty easy, I spent half a day searching in the forest just to find clues about the corpse. Luckily the corpse is still there, otherwise it would have been hard to confirm if it was Edward."

  Easy?

  "How can hunting goblins be easy? Didn't you struggle with just two last time?" Johnny said somewhat indignantly. It was like when he got 98 on a test as a kid and was feeling proud, only to have some annoying little girl walk by and say "Oh, only 98? What's there to be proud of with such a low score?"

  "That was close combat!" Aisling rolled her eyes, "If it's really a hunt, just find the goblin tribe and hide in the trees, one arrow per head, isn't that enough?"

  Dizzy.

  "I am a warrior!"

  "A warrior's words." Astry looked at Jony's long sword at his waist, "A sword and shield combo can take on a dozen goblins or so. Knock one down, slash another, jump away... even if you're surrounded, having a shield makes it easier for you. Your single-handed longsword is quite troublesome, hmm, I understand you now. Being able to kill nine of them is pretty good!"

  Although it's a compliment, Joanie always has the feeling of "With your IQ, getting this score is really not easy!"

  But politeness is essential.

  "Thanks... thanks." Johnny nodded reluctantly and didn't say anything more.

  "You said last time that your swordsmanship was self-taught?" Johnny didn't speak up, but Astrid took the initiative to open her mouth.

  "Yes, it was me myself who practiced randomly in the yard."

  "This won't do, you'll end up losing out!" Johnny thought the sentence sounded familiar. "Alright, last time you helped me once, this time I'll help you too. The City Lord's Guard, Odala Uncle is recruiting attendants, I'll put in a word for you and let you give it a try?"

  What's wrong?

  "How did you get to know the people of the City Guard? And what is a flunky?"

  Jonyi naturally knew about the entourage, but out of caution, he had to ask about everything in this unknown world. What if "entourage" meant a small surname here... (Small surname: In Japan's Warring States period, the attendants by the side of the daimyo, most of whom were also responsible for having sex with their masters.)

  "Don't you know what a squire is? A squire is a knight's subordinate, responsible for feeding the horse, polishing armor, and doing chores for the knight. In return, the knight will also teach the squire some martial skills, after all, on the battlefield, the knight needs to bring the squire along to fight together. But don't worry, this city doesn't have cavalry, so you won't need to feed horses if you go.

  As for me..." The little girl paused, lifted her chin and proudly said, "My father is the first archer of Tabris Castle, the shooting instructor of the City Lord's Guard, Eisatis Hug!"

  It's unbelievable, this little girl is a noble descendant, sounds like she has a profound family background.

  "Is your archery skill taught by your father?"

  "That's right." His neck was still raised, "My father is a 12th-level forest ranger! He's really formidable!"

  Level 12? That's so high... how many tasks do I have to complete......

  "Hey, what's wrong with you? Are you going to take this opportunity or not?" Astrid said with a smile, suddenly remembering the task at hand, and saw Johnny daydreaming, so she pushed him.

  "Ah, oh, it's what I wanted, it's what I wanted." One step to heaven, good people have good rewards! However, some things still need to be clarified, "This, what kind of treatment does the escort receive? What kind of weapon is this Odala-sama using?"

  "Salary... I think it was five silver coins a month, not much, but with food and lodging included. Actually, there's not much to do, just maintain the armor, take care of your weapon, and other miscellaneous tasks are handled by specialized servants. Oh, one key point, you need to practice martial arts diligently, if after some time your skills aren't up to par, Uncle Odara will definitely fire you, and I won't be able to help you then. Uncle Odara doesn't use a longsword, he's used to his own two-handed greatsword, so you might have to start from scratch. But looking at the way you hold that longsword, maybe a two-handed sword is more suitable for you."

  Money can be earned, and martial arts can be learned? Is there such a good thing in the world?

  "Right, as an escort, on the battlefield you need to protect your lord's safety, and your military achievements are also recorded under your lord's name. However, your lord will give you suitable rewards, and if you perform well enough, your lord may even recommend you to the castle owner, who knows, maybe one day you'll become a knight too."

  This one mouthful of "your master" made Joni from the future very displeased. However, he also knew that in this world where hierarchy is strict and the strong prey on the weak, human rights are truly meaningless. Moreover, he himself was not a real slave, but had only established a master-slave relationship. Okay, not yet established.

  "Alright, I'll do it." Joanie nodded, "But what about my career level? If I don't complete tasks, I won't be able to advance."

  "Good grief, can't you take it? Esutire rubbed her forehead. "Can't we just advance by challenging? And after the 9th level, all advancements are through completing guild promotion quests, which has nothing to do with the Mercenary Alliance."

  Huh? Did the Warrior's Guild people deceive me? But thinking carefully, they didn't seem to have said that much afterwards...

  "Then trouble you!"

  After receiving his pay, he also informed Astrid of the location of her family's ironworks and they parted ways.

  "So they say good people get good rewards, but it's just a small effort to help someone and there are such great benefits, it really makes one feel happy." Joanie thought as she walked, "What a pure and kind little girl, so beautiful, so enchanting... If I could marry her, this life would be... Pffft, what am I thinking? She's the daughter of a noble family, can a poor guy like me match up to that? But if I became a noble..."

  The momentum is coming up.

  Back at the blacksmith's shop, Johnny told Smith about his strange encounter today. Old Smith was also very pleased that this job was not as dangerous as being a mercenary and had a stable income. Although he would have to go to battle, Tabriz City hadn't fought in many years. Moreover, being an escort was still a respectable job. He felt very happy.

  "Dad, do you know about the giant sword in both hands?"

  "Greatsword? Of course I know what it is! It's that really long and big sword that has to be used with both hands, right?"

  "Will you fight?"

  "Will is will... what? What do you want this thing for?"

  Joni rubbed his head: "That, that Odara-sama is said to use a two-handed greatsword, so when the time comes he'll probably teach me that too... I think..."

  "I see, I understand. Come on, come on, you help out too, this job can't be done by one person."

  The blacksmith's shop was filled with clanging sounds, as if cheering for Johnny's future.